The present invention is directed to a liquid absorbing liner material. More particularly, the present invention is directed to a liquid absorbing liner material that is suitable as a body-side liner material for personal care absorbent articles including diapers, feminine pads, incontinence garments and training pants.
Diaper dermatitis is a skin condition that results from the prolonged contact of wet occlusive diapers with the skin of the wearer. This prolonged contact can lead to excessive hydration of the stratum corneum or outermost skin layer, thus reducing the skin's ability to function as a barrier. When the barrier properties of the skin are compromised, there is an increase in the permeation of irritants, the susceptibility of the skin to physical damage and the invasion of the skin by microorganisms. Maintaining a normal skin hydration level helps the skin maintain its optimum barrier properties. For this reason, it is important that personal care absorbent products, to the extent possible, prevent excessive skin hydration while containing body exudates and providing a soft, dry and comfortable feel to the wearer.
Current occlusive absorbent garments with flat liners hold body exudates, specifically urine and feces, against the skin of the wearer. Heat and moisture are prevented from escaping from the product due to the close fitting nature of the product designed to prevent leakage. This problem is most severe in the insult region of personal care absorbent products. The flat liner provides a high contact area with the skin which can act as a pathway to conduct back to the skin free liquid that is not locked up by the absorbent core, especially when the product is under pressure at the insult point since the flat liner cannot provide a sufficient degree of separation of the wearer from the free liquid. In addition, the flat liner does not allow the insult region of the personal care absorbent product to communicate with the ambient air to allow humidity to be reduced in the insult region as well as away from the insult region.
Methods have been described to achieve communication of the interior region of a personal care absorbent product with the ambient air including breathable backsheets, waist vents and leg vents. These methods have various deficiencies that make them less effective than desired to achieve normal, unoccluded skin hydration levels. Breathable backsheets provide a pathway for drying through the backsheet to the interior of the absorbent product. However, the wet absorbent can hinder the true communication of the skin with the ambient air. Waist and leg vents through the backsheet tend to either be occluded against the skin or provide leakage pathways. Other methods discuss the use of folded absorbent cores or layers under the liner to dry the liner (skin contact) layer. These methods call for undesirable process options and economics and do not truly allow the ambient air to dry the skin of the wearer--rather, they dry the skin contact layer. As a result, there is a need for a material that can be used for, among other things, a liner material for personal care absorbent products such as diapers, training pants, incontinence garments, sanitary napkins, bandages and the like to reduce the humidity in the insult area and the skin hydration level of the wearer.